Chasing The Wind
by hiyesthisiswerfs
Summary: When Yasuo's master is murdered in the great Ionian war, he seeks to avenge his master. However, what will happen once he meets his master's killer? And what underlying plan does the Void seek to accomplish?
1. Chasing The Wind: CH1

Chasing the Wind

CHAPTER 1: BENIGN BEGINNING

A/N: This story (or at least chapter) takes place in December 15, 2013, two days after Yasuo's acceptance into the League.

As a cool night breeze blew around the Institute of War, Yasuo sat quietly outside, playing his flute. His sword tucked away comfortably in its sheath, Yasuo took a break from his bamboo flute, and took a breath of the chilly night air. _Everyone else is asleep_ , he thought, as he slowly rose from his position just outside the building. A particularly cold chill caught Yasuo, and as he walked back into the comfortably lit Institute, he thought about what had put him here in the first place.

He was not here without a mission. He was here to exact his revenge on the one who first caused him such pain. He had served the glorious and humble Ionian elder, Yuruke. Until the Noxians invaded. During the Noxian invasion, Yasuo, having mastered the legendary Last Breath wind technique, was given the righteous privilege of protecting the clan leader, hidden in a low profile shed in the middle of Ionia. Everyday, Yasuo would stay hidden inside the shed, keeping the elder safe from any possible attacks, listening to his comrades, his friends, being slaughtered by the disgusting Noxian scum. Everyday, Yasuo's anger would rise, not only against the Noxians, but against his superiors as well. His legendary wind technique could very well mean the difference between victory and defeat in this fight, how _dare_ they keep him hidden and the one protecting the elder? Yasuo struggled each day, wondering whether he should leave the shed and join the fray, or stick to his post and listen to his comrades die. The answer was clear.

One dark night, while the troops were recovering and the elder fast asleep, Yasuo snuck out of the shed and into the barracks. There he waited quietly, listening to the wheezing of his fellow comrades and friends. At the break of dawn, the Noxians made their run into the Ionian base, coming head first, yelling the Noxian battle cry at the top of their lungs. Yasuo merely smirked at this, as he knew it was only for intimidation and held no real edge. Quick as his blade, he cut down the first line of Noxian soldiers, left and right, releasing his pent up anger. Somewhat. His comrades did not know he was not supposed to be here, and instead should be keeping the elder safe. But they sure were happy one of Ionia's strongest fighters was there in the fray with them.

The day drew long, and Yasuo's strength started to slowly waver. Beads of sweat finally formed along his brow, causing his fellow warriors to worry. If Ionia's strongest fighter has reached his limit fighting, how were they going to finish the fight? Yasuo could no longer contain his wind technique, and finally released all his power in a furious whirlwind, knocking the enemy commander high into the air. Seeing his chance, Yasuo lept to the Noxian scum and struck him multiple times with his blade before the Noxian commander fell the ground, dead. The air around the enemy Noxian soldiers shifted. Their commander was dead. They had no orders to fight anymore. They started a surrender, but Yasuo would not see to that. He charged back onto the battlefield, killing off the rest of the Noxian soldiers, before the Ionians could even consider the Noxian surrender. The Ionians watched Yasuo in the distance, on his knees, wheezing from the strain of the battle. They had won the battle. Or so he thought.

Yasuo woke up the next day bright and early in his bed in the Institute. "Agh… I feel sick. Definitely shouldn't have stayed out there that long last night." Chuckling quietly, Yasuo walked into his bathroom and started brushing his teeth. "Today's Monday, huh," he said to himself as he put on his scarf and slid on his shoulder armor, "another day working to find the true identity of that murderer."

Yasuo left his room and took the elevator down to the cafeteria, took a plate, and proceeded to load it up with the abundance of food from the nicely decorated cafeteria. Before he heard that obnoxious voice.

"Hey, hey, hey! New man here, I see!" Draven announced, with a couple of scantily clad ladies following him. "Sorry for the late welcome, but lately, Draaaaven's been pre-tty busyyy…"

He took a look behind him at the ladies.

"Pretty busy indeed, hehehe…"

 _Insolent Noxian,_ Yasuo thought _._ "Alright, Draven. What do you want?"

"What do I want? Nothin', man, just wanted to show you 'round the League of Draaaven."

The ladies behind him giggled.

"Leave me alone," Yasuo replied firmly, "I don't need a "tour" of this place."

"What?"

"Draven, I need to get something to eat, it's 8 in the morning. Don't you have other things to do?" Yasuo questioned.

"Me? My man, my man, I got tooons of things to do."

He looked at the ladies clinging onto him.

"Tons of things indeed, hehehe…"

Just when Yasuo was about punch Draven in the throat, a deep voice boomed behind him.

"Draven, leave 'em alone. Go execute someone if you really need some entertainment."

Yasuo turned around to face a large man suited in heavy battle armor, with a large axe resting on his shoulder. The red and black color scheme of his armor gave away his Noxian affiliation. Darius, the older brother of Draven, stood there firmly.

"But Draven's just gettin' started," Draven said, with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Draven." Darius cautioned.

Draven turned and started to leave with the women, before tossing over his shoulder, "Draven's gotta look out for skin 'n bones, bro."

"Sorry about that. Draven's quite the obnoxious one," Darius chuckled.

"Yeah." Yasuo replied, wanting to get the hell out of there.

"I won't keep you up with your food, go ahead." Darius smacked Yasuo's back and walked out the door.

Yasuo took a look around the cafeteria, filled with half asleep champions getting ready for another day of matches on the Rift. Sighing quietly, Yasuo found himself an empty spot at a table in the otherwise packed cafeteria. Silently munching on a piece of teriyaki taco, he looked around. Next to him sat a quiet young lady with short white hair. She was dressed in light cloth armor, big armored glove on her right hand, and a spiky grey shoulderpiece that looked more for decoration than any actual use. Balanced on the side of the table was what looked like a broken blade, with what seemed to be a large green word messily engraved on the side.

This lady soon realized that Yasuo was staring her down analytically, and replied politely, "how may I help you?"

Yasuo jolted, and quickly returned to his teriyaki taco. _This lady,_ he thought. _Who is she?_

As if reading his mind, she turned to him.

"You must be Yasuo, right? I'm Riven, nice to meet you." and stuck out her huge gloved hand.

 _How do you handshake that?_ Yasuo thought, temporarily mortified.

"Yes, I am Yasuo. Nice to meet you too," He said, awkwardly handshaking her glove.

She giggled and scooped up her empty plates, then took her broken sword, and left the table.

Yasuo turned back to his tacos (which were starting to get cold) and started munching. A smile tugged at his lips, and he found himself grinning.  
"What a nice welcome from such a nice lady," He said as he took a swig of apple juice.

He glanced at the clock. 8:45am. Matches start in 15 minutes, which left him 15 minutes of flute time. He scooped up his plates, put them in the dirty plate tray, and left the Institute to enjoy his melody.


	2. Chasing The Wind: CH2

CHAPTER 2: FIRST MATCH

9am. First match begins. At exactly 9am, Yasuo felt himself being picked for a game. A bright green number on top of his head appeared, counting down from 60. _I'm a new champion,_ he thought, _so it's totally natural I get picked by some rich kid with tons of RP to waste._ The timer reached down to 0, and Yasuo felt himself being pulled into the summoning portal. During his time in the portal, Yasuo heard the ever present female voice announcing, "If you still have food or drinks, please finish or dispose of them immediately, as your summoners are currently summoning you to the Rift." Looking around at his teammates, he saw Shaco, _(I hate Shaco_ , he thought), Sona and Draven in the bottom lane, and, to his happy surprise, Riven in the top lane. Glancing at the enemy team, he saw a Ryze top, a Fiddlesticks jungle, Kassadin mid, and Lucian and Thresh botlane.

They were loaded into the Rift.

"Yasuo, huh?" Riven remarked, "better hope your summoner isn't… bad." She laughed openly and ran to top lane.

Meanwhile, Draven was bothering Sona.

"Sona Sona Sona! Dayum, girl, look at 'em jiggle!"

Yasuo rolled his eyes.

"You know whatta do with that big fat butt. Wiggle wiggle wiggle…" Draven sang lewdly as he ran to lane. Sona, being pretty accustomed to Draven's humorless lust, just rolled her eyes and floated behind him to lane.

Yasuo finally started walking to lane, and as he walked, he felt the wind pick up at his side. By the time he walked to lane, he felt a powerful barrier of wind surrounding him.

As the minions started trudging down the lane, he looked over at Kassadin, floating quietly by his tower, staring back. Finally, Kassadin spoke.

"You must be searching for your elder's killer, correct?"

Yasuo was taken aback as to how this ethereal being knew of his past.

"Why, yes," he replied wryly. "How do you know?"  
"I know a lot of things, Yasuo. But perhaps I can learn more from our battle here today." Kassadin replied, his voice cheerful.

The whole match was pretty much what you can expect: Kassadin utterly destroying Yasuo's team with his overpowered kit, Draven bothering Sona in the botlane, while the enemy Lucian was constantly shooting at the wrong support. And, being best friends, Fiddlesticks and Shaco enjoying a warm cup of tea together in the bottom lane river. Finally, Yasuo's team was losing too hard and after a tough teamfight, the enemy team went to go Baron. Only Yasuo and Riven were the ones that survived Kassadin's 5-man Force Pulse, which pretty much ended half of their teammates' lives. He looked over at the panting Riven next to him and a green health bar popped up above her head. Still well over half-health, she took a look back at Yasuo. A bit under half health. In the distance, they could hear the combat sounds and the screams of Baron.

"We still have a chance to win this game." Riven stated.

"What? How? I'm 1/7, you're 2/9, and the rest of the team is pretty much fresh meat for Kassadin."

"Look, your Last Breath technique. It needs a knock up to be initiated and can hit multiple enemies, correct?"  
"Yeah, but I still don't see how that can win us the game."  
"Let me explain..."

A couple moments later, they discharged their plan.

Yasuo charged in straight and released a powerful whirlwind straight at the enemy team, aiming just slightly to the right. As the entire enemy team dodged the whirlwind, Riven jumped over Baron's wall, her broken sword reformed, slamming down hard onto the murky ground. _A deadlock_ , Kassadin realized, _with the whirlwind still going strong on their left, they could only run to the back left of the Baron pit, allowing Riven a 5-man knockup._

The entire enemy team was knocked up, and Yasuo once again saw his chance. He leapt up into the air, and the wind took over from then on. He repeatedly slashed at his opponents, watching blood flow from their brand new cuts, and finally slammed them all down onto the ground, killing them all, save for Kassadin. The announcer yelped a grim "Quadra kill!" as Yasuo looked at the bloody Kassadin on the ground. Kassadin smiled grimly. "Good job." Yasuo, taking no chances, drove his sword deep into... the ground where Kassadin once was. Baron was still on rampage, spewing his toxic shots at everyone. _Where did Kassadin go?_ Yasuo thought. He saw him on the outside of the pit, a purple shadow distorting around him. _He just had enough mana to Riftwalk out, huh? He never wanted to give me that Penta. I need to have a chat with him after this match,_ Yasuo thought, and turned his attention to Riven still combatting the huge purple monster. Seeing Yasuo, Riven exclaimed happily, "told you that'll work! Watch this! You're not the only one with a wind technique. Wind slash!"

She stepped forward and released her sword's energy, sending out a huge wave of sharp wind that cut through Baron, killing it. From that moment on, the game was an assured (though hardfought) victory for Yasuo's team. As the enemy Nexus blew up, Yasuo laughed. What a game.

Back in the Institute, after his chat with Kassadin about the Penta he was cheated out of, Yasuo reflected on the battle. More specifically, the battle at Baron.

Riven's technique… and her words, "you're not the only one with a wind technique".

What does that even mean? Could she have been Yuruke's killer? And how did she master a legendary wind technique? If she did kill Yuruke, then she must be... a Noxian. Noxian. She was the Noxian that killed his master, the one that caused his name to be scorned by his comrades, the one that caused him the pain he had to experience. No matter how he looked at it, he could not deny it. And yet, he couldn't get mad at her. Not the way he gets mad at Draven or his prejudice against Darius. He could feel his prejudice against Riven filling his form already. And yet, it felt forced. It didn't come naturally when he saw Noxians. It felt forced from his brain to feel something it didn't want to feel. Yasuo couldn't understand what he was supposed to feel and what he wasn't supposed to feel. Yasuo couldn't comprehend his identity. Yasuo was going through a midlife crisis.

"There you are," said a familiar female voice, "I couldn't find you after the match, you left so fast!"

"Riven…"  
"Hm? You alright, Yasuo?"

 _She killed my master. I'm facing the object of my vendetta, and I can't feel anger_.

"Yasuo? Hello?"

"Look, uh, Riven, I gotta go. Sorry."

"Yasuo, wai-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Yasuo dashed off.

As he left Riven behind in the post-game lobby, a voice loomed out of the shadows.

"You've met her once, what will you do?"  
Without looking, Yasuo kept moving forward. He knew that fishtank voice all too well.

"Yasuo. You've seen the object of your vengeance and you cannot exact revenge. Do you know why?"

Yasuo stopped and gnashed his teeth.

"Why, Kassadin?"

"Because she's your friend."  
"We are not friends, Kassadin," Yasuo looked up, "Because I promised myself I would kill the one who put me here in the first place."

Kassadin took a long, hard look at the defeated Yasuo in front of him, and silently floated off to his room.

Yasuo sat down on a soft leather couch nearby, and put his face in his hands. What was he to do? He couldn't kill her, no matter how hard he tried. But the fight at Baron in the last game… at that moment, he could feel his camaraderie with this woman. He could feel the synergy they shared. He could not deny it. They were friends.


	3. Chasing The Wind: CH3

CHAPTER 3: FRIEND OR FOE

Stress. Lots and lots of stress. That's all Yasuo could feel. Even though he was summoned to multiple matches after that first one, he couldn't focus his mind, couldn't channel his energy into the Rift. He felt helpless. He trained for so long, looking for the one he could exact his vengeance on. But when he met the source of his despair, he couldn't do anything. He had run away without even speaking. He had run away without even feeling a source of anger. In fact, he felt ashamed. For no reason at all, he felt ashamed.

How could he kill her? She was his first (and possibly _only_ ) legitimate friend here in the Institute of War. During his lunch break, Yasuo just sat outside the Institute on top of his favorite hill, under a tree, his flute hanging limply from his fingers, not even bothering to play his melody.

He sat there with his eyes closed, before he heard that insolent Noxian again.

"Hey, my man, my man," Draven cooed, as he climbed up the hill, "heard ya got some laaady problems, eh?"

Yasuo opened his eyes a bit and peeked behind Draven. No half-naked ladies this time. He closed his eyes again.

"My man, my man. Skin'n'bones, listen 'ere," he said as he sat down next to Yasuo.

 _Skin'n'bones? Did he just call me skin'n'bones?_ Yasuo thought.

"Lady issues happen all the time, and Draven here's got the plan to get that lady for you," he winked.

"Draven. I have no feelings for Riven. I'm just sorting out some of my own thoughts."

"Your own thoughts, eh? Eh? Eh?" Draven started nudging Yasuo.

"Draven's got his own thoughts about ladies…"

Yasuo opened his eyes slightly and looked at Draven.

"Got my own thoughts indeed, hehehe…" 

A vein popped in Yasuo's head.

"Ya know, Draven here can totally totally help ya out with some of your problems. I mean, I am obviously the strongest, handsomest, and smartest Noxian executioner around in this world."

Upon hearing the word "Noxian", Yasuo decided he had had enough. Standing up swiftly, he grabbed Draven's collar and lifted him up from the ground.

"Hey, hey, just what do you think yer doin', huh?"

Yasuo mustered all the hate he had, which was a lot considering Draven was Noxian, and looked deep into his eyes.

"Do not mess with me, executioner. If you keep up your annoying ways, I will kill you."

"Sassy Yassy, eh?" Draven said, "You know, nobody has ever threatened me with death before."

"Draven, get out of here now."

A breeze picked up by Yasuo's side and for the first time, he saw a bit of fear trigger in Draven's eyes. He covered it up pretty quickly with a fake laugh.

"Watch out, skinny boy. Nobody messes with Draaaven and gets away with it."

He looked back at Yasuo this time.

"Nobody."

With that, Draven walked back down the hill and into the Institute.

What a pain.

So Riven was his master's killer, huh? The bigger question was: does she even know that it was _his_ master that was killed in the Noxian invasion? What could she have been thinking when she killed a helpless old man? How did she even _find_ the shed in the first place?

Too many questions unanswered, Yasuo went to find the one that seemed to know most about him: Kassadin.

After a strenuous 15 minutes, Yasuo finally found Kassadin's apartment. He knocked on the door and waited. There was no answer. _I thought so,_ Yasuo thought, _Kassadin's over powered right now, he'll be used in any match possible_.

"Unless Kassadin is always permabanned." a voice boomed behind him.

Yasuo turned around and to his delight, Kassadin was standing behind him, his yellow eyes glowing friendly.

"How am I supposed to answer the door if you don't let me near it?" He laughed, as he gently floated past Yasuo and unlocked the door. "Come in. I'm sure you have a lot to say."

Yasuo, dumbfounded as to how Kassadin knew everything he was thinking, walked in after him and closed the door.

The inside of Kassadin's apartment was unlike what Yasuo had expected. Instead of the purple themed Void furniture he thought Kassadin would fashion, it was filled with very human things. Light beige blinds covered the windows, a tidy marble kitchen sat nicely in a corner, and pastel colored paint vibrated throughout the apartment. Kassadin lead Yasuo down the hallway and into the comfortably decorated living room, and sat down on a fluffy couch. Yasuo sat down across from him, and looked down at the light green tinted glass coffee table.

After an awkward silence, Yasuo started.

"Why am I so stressed over this?"

"Your mind tells you that she is your friend, and your mind tells you to kill the one that killed your elder," he replied quite bluntly, "but what happens when your friend is the one that murdered your elder? What will you do then?"

"Well, when I leapt into battle during the Noxian Invasion, I knew it was the right decision. At least at that time I thought it was the right decision. I didn't falter the whole time I was out there fighting."

"You have a strong love towards your friends but also a strong hatred towards those who hurt you and the people around you."

"So you're saying…"

"You know she's your friend. In the short time you got to know her, you've already begun forgiving her and forgetting your 'promise' to kill your master's assassin. Namely, Riven."

"Does she… does she know that it was _my_ master that was killed? And not some other Ionian's?" Yasuo questioned.

"I do not know. You may just have to ask her yourself," Kassadin spoke.

Suddenly, a bright green number appeared on top of Kassadin's head and started counting down from 60.

"Alright, thanks Kassadin," Yasuo said as he stood up and started for the door.

"No problem. You can always come talk to me if you need help."

Kassadin opened the door and Yasuo walked out. As the door closed, Kassadin lit up and was summoned to the Rift, leaving Yasuo alone in the hallway to his thoughts.


	4. Chasing The Wind: CH4

CHAPTER 4: THE TALK

As Kassadin was summoned into the Rift, Yasuo stood in the hallway quietly thinking about how to proceed with the situation. _I have to talk to her sooner or later._ he thought. _May as well just get it over with._ Yasuo walked quietly down the hallway, only hearing the dull thuds of his footsteps on the floor.

"Yasuo! There you are," yelped a familiar female voice, "why did you just run off?"

 _May coincidence have it that I just so happen to bump into her._

"Riven," he started, "You're Noxian, right?"

She looked confused for a brief moment, but quickly covered it with a grin.

"Yes I am. Why do you ask?"

"What do you think of Ionians?" Yasuo continued, bluntly ignoring her question.

"Ionians are nice people. Take for example, Irelia. Or Yi. They're genuinely nice. Seriously though, why are you asking me all this?"

Yasuo realized he couldn't just tell her straight up, but he couldn't really imply it either. What a lose-lose situation. He opened his mouth and said, "nothing, Riven. Just curious." He turned his back and began walking away.

"Draaaven knows the answer, Riven," cooed an all too well known Noxian, "ya wanna know why he's asking you all this?"

Yasuo stopped, his back still turned to Riven. Draven was standing a couple meters behind Riven, taunting her.

"Draven," Yasuo began, "don't even dare telling her anything. Or I will _kill_ you."

"D'awww, Sassy Yassy wanna protect his li'l girlfriend, huh?"

Yasuo turned around and locked eyes with Draven. "Draven, I'm warning you."

Riven looked between the two seething men, unsure what to do.

"My man, my man, you gotta learn to chill. Riven, lemme tell ya why Yasuo ran off all that fast last game."

Yasuo felt his blood boil.

"He can't tell ya, ya know why? You know, it's just probably cuz he's just a wimpy. Whiny. Little. Bit-"

Before Draven could finish his insult, Yasuo struck out at Draven, his sword drawn from its sheath cutting down in a perfect arc at Draven's neck. Only that it didn't hit. The sword merely rebounded with a loud _clang_ against a barrier that appeared around Draven.

"Yassy, you do know that no champions can be hurt _within_ the Institute, right?" Draven challenged, "But they can be hurt _outside_ of the Institute in a duel. They can even be, oh, I don't know, killed." Draven shrugged. "But you're just skin 'n bones. Can't challenge me in the _least_ little bit."

Riven still stood there silently, looking at the two men staring each other down.

"I can take you on easily. Don't get too cocky, executioner."

Draven faked surprise.

"You got that in ya, huh? Meet me outside in an hour. One of us is going home tonight. The other is going to die."

Draven spat on the floor and walked off.

Riven finally spoke up to Yasuo.

"What was he going to tell me?"

Yasuo shook with anger, sheathed his sword, and walked off, ignoring her.

An hour later, Yasuo met Draven outside the back of the Institute.

"You actually showed up, eh?" Draven taunted, this time again surrounded by a group of scantily clad ladies.

Yasuo silently drew his sword and ignored Draven. Being bound by the Ionian Code of Honor, he bowed before his opponent before getting into a fighting stance. Draven took a long hard look at the ladies and said, "this one's for you bee- _yoo_ -tee-full ladies." The ladies giggled and Draven took out his spinning axes and walked to Yasuo.

"On the count of three?" Draven said.

"How can I believe you won't start at two?"

"Really, I don't need to cheat for a second to win this little duel, Yasuo." Draven's usual carefree and annoying personality seemed to have shifted into something much more malevolent. Was this the executioner's true self..?

"1."

"2."

"3!"

Draven threw a spinning axe at Yasuo, but was quickly blocked off by his sword. Using the axe that was stuck in the ground as a launchpad, Yasuo flew in at Draven, his sword swinging in an arc at Draven's right shoulder. Right before impact, Draven stepped back on his right leg and shifted back away from the sword. Just as quickly, he threw a fist at Yasuo's unguarded abdomen. Just when he had thought he had gotten Yasuo, he saw Yasuo flicker past him through on the right side, landing behind him. A fine line of blood emanated from Draven's chest. The ladies squealed. Draven leapt backwards to his other axe, picked them both up, and threw both of them at blinding speed at Yasuo. Yasuo turned around just to be smacked lightly by the hilt of an axe, pushing him sideways before the spinning axes hit the ground and rebounded back to Draven.

"You're not so bad, Draven." Yasuo said between heavy breaths.

"But you are." Draven sneered, as he drove both axes, still spinning, into the ground.

The axes sped steadily and quickly towards Yasuo. He merely smirked as he summoned a wind wall towards the incoming axes. The axes slammed hard on the wind wall and scraped hard on the wind wall, sending out smoke and dust in every direction, before the axes spun out of the ground and landed lamely with a sharp _clank_ at Draven's feet. Suddenly, out of the thick smoke, a whirlwind appeared and came towards him and his axes, which were still on the ground. He grabbed an axe and threw it blindly into the smoke before the whirlwind caught him. He was pushed high into the air, waiting for Yasuo to strike and kill him. But he never came. As the smoke dissipated and Draven fell hard back onto the ground, he looked to where Yasuo was. Draven's axe was lodged firmly in Yasuo's shoulder armor. Even though he was wearing shoulder armor, blood was oozing out from where the axe was. Yasuo grunted as he analyzed his wound, and grabbed the axe and pulled it out of his shoulder armor. He grabbed his sword and struggled to stand up. He fell back down. Seeing his advantage, Draven grabbed his other axe, started spinning it, and started walking towards the injured Yasuo. As he walked, he sneered.

"I _told_ you," he aimed at Yasuo's neck and got ready to throw the axe, "Nobody messes with Draven and gets away with it!" With that last word, he chucked the axe at Yasuo.

The axe clashed hard against a black blade with bright glowing green words. Yasuo looked up and saw Riven, her sword reformed and posed like a shield in front of him.

"Almost got yourself killed." she stated bluntly.

Draven's ladies behind her groaned, but quickly shut up when Riven shot them a look that could kill.

"Well isn't that just sweet? Little rat coming to defend the big rat." Draven said, as he wiped some blood off his chest. "I'll let you live this time, Yasuo, and that's only because I'll get to see you suffer some more."

Draven picked up the axe near Yasuo and left with the ladies following him.

Yasuo felt his strength bleed into the ground, and weakly pulled on Riven's skirt, telling her he needed a paramedic group. She nodded and ran off to get help.

Then everything went black.

For the next three days, Yasuo spent his days in the Institute General Hospital recovering from his wounds and waiting for his armor to be fixed. Three days only. It's good champions get healing benefits while in the Institute.

But the more he thought about the battle with Draven, the more morose he got. All he had managed to do the entire fight was to dodge or block the axes and the only damage he had managed to get onto Draven was that one slice and the whirlwind. Was that the power of a Noxian? Yasuo admitted that Noxians were trained in the art of warfare much more than Ionians. Heck, even more than Demacians. Draven had done so much more than him in that duel. Draven forced him to play defensive the entire time and, if Riven did not appear at the last second to save him from death, would have finished the job.

The thought hit him like a truck.

 _I lost… to a Noxian_.


	5. Chasing The Wind: CH5

CHAPTER 5: BROKEN PAST

The day after being discharged from the hospital, Yasuo realized what a failure he was. He allowed emotions to take over his actions, a deed that was so unforgivable to the Ionian Warrior Council that it could lead to imprisonment. But then again, he no longer had anything to do with the Ionian Warrior Council. He smirked quietly as this notion. As if that was not enough, he had lost a duel against a member of an unallied nation. Horrible. Furthermore, he had put himself in a hard position to even talk to Riven. She saved his life, and he wants to go convict her of killing off his master?

Deep in his thoughts, he almost missed the quiet knocking on his door. He sighed, yelled a "comin'!", and got up from the couch and went to open the door. There stood Riven, looking quite troubled. She didn't have her sword with her, and her glove and shoulder piece were missing too. Judging by the dark bags she had under her eyes and her shaking, he could conclude that she didn't sleep for a couple of days.

"Hey Yasuo…" she said weakly.

"Oh, my God, you look terrible. Come in." He replied.

She walked in haphazardly, scanning his apartment with glazed eyes. He lead her to the couch, where she sat down cautiously, as if it were loaded with traps. Seeing her shudder, Yasuo quickly grabbed a couple blankets and wrapped them around her.

"I'll go make some hot chocolate," he offered, and stood up. Riven held onto his arm and shook her head.

"No thank you, Yasuo. I just came here because I wanted to talk to you."

He looked at her, then at the hand that was holding on to him like a lifeline, then back at her again before sitting down next to her.

"What did you want to talk to me about, dear?"

"After your fight with Draven, when you were unconscious, he told me…"

She started shuddering again. Yasuo suddenly understood the situation, and found his hand gripping his sword tightly.

"What did he tell you?" Yasuo asked as softly as he could manage, hoping Draven didn't tell her what he think he did.

Riven started sobbing and clutched at his chest.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so so so sorry, I didn't know anything, oh God, I can't believe it…" She blubbered between gasps.

Yasuo looked down at the shaky figure holding on to him, feeling her tears streak down his chest. He was extremely uncomfortable.

"How did you manage to put up with me when you knew?" she questioned.

"Because," Yasuo replied, "I've already forgiven you." _Wai-wai-wait, what?_ he thought, _I forgave her? What the hell am I saying?_

"I know you haven't!" she cried, "I killed your master, shattered your life, and forced you to leave your home to some place you never wanted to go to!"

"Riven," he said, "my master won't be brought back and my life won't ever be the same."

"Exactly! Then why didn-"

"But I'm glad I'm here."

"Huh?"

"Throughout my exile, I've been filled with vengeance and hatred. What kept me going was my hatred of Noxians. I've always blamed Noxians for everything that happened, what with my master dying, my exile, my brother's death, and my journey to kill the one that caused all this. But the fault laid with me. Had I not left my master that night, none of this would have happened. Instead, you and I would have met in battle. And with those circumstances, one of us would have been killed that night. My master's death brought great agony, but as the agony faded and as I looked into the eyes of my vendetta, I could only feel fortunate of what happened. I realized I could forgive."

"But I killed…"  
"Riven. You were ordered to kill. I was ordered to defend. You followed through with your orders, but I did not with mine."

"That's not an excuse! I killed someone, I'm a monster!"

"You're showing regret for this. I'm sure you know about Singed's… "bombardment". He killed an entire village with his poison, and he feels no remorse. That's what a monster is. You, on the other hand, understand how important human life is. You shattered your own sword and severed ties with your own nation because of it. And that, I daresay, cannot lead to conviction."

Riven nodded her head quietly, and closed her eyes.

"Thanks, Yasuo," she said.

"No. Thank you, Riven," he replied.

Riven's headed drooped forward, and her grip on Yasuo's arm weakened. She began snoring.

He chuckled quietly. Seems like she finally let things go. Even if just a little bit. He gently rested her head on a couch pillow, readjusted the blankets, and stood up to go make some hot chocolate. As he boiled the water and got out the chocolate powder and marshmallows, he quietly thought about everything. More importantly, he thought about Draven and his cruel disclosure about his past to Riven.

He ground his teeth. He had to show that spoiled Noxian idiot who was the boss around here.

Meanwhile, outside the hallway, Singed was carrying his dirty laundry to the laundry room, when he happened to pass Yasuo's apartment. He heard his name and something about "poison", "no remorse", and "that's what a monster is". His bald head drooped as he slowly lugged his laundry to the laundromat. Singed was heartbroken.

Outside the Institute floated a weird creature. This beast was composed by a huge purple eyeball, surrounded by sharp beige armor and a couple of purple tentacles. Sprawled on the ground unconscious were the guards that secured the entrance to the League.

"Such weak beings," its deep voice resounded, "not worthy of my investigation."

Then, in a louder voice, it boomed, "I demand entrance into the League. Or I will bring it down and make it mine."

"As if I would just let that happen," a fishtank voice replied from inside the Institute.

"If you dare oppose me, face me."

In a flash of purple, Kassadin appeared over the wall and in front of the eyeball.

"From what I see, I can't face you. You're just an eye, not even a complete face." Kassadin stated bluntly.

"You must not know about me," the floating eyeball retorted, "or you will not refuse my demands."

"I know much about you, Vel'Koz."

Vel'Koz blinked his huge eye and stared at Kassadin.

"Then you must know why I have left the Void, Voidwalker?"

"I must say I don't. Why, Vel'Koz?"

"Well, you see," the eyeball stated, "I have learned all there is in the Void. There remain no more unique specimens for me to experiment on."

Kassadin's yellow eyes narrowed.

"You were called here by Malzahar, weren't you?"

"Only Malzahar and I know the truth of the world. Through careful studying, we both came to the conclusion that Runeterra lacked a ruling power. Of which will be us, the Void. There's nothing you can do, Voidwalker. We are already in motion."


	6. Chasing The Wind: CH6

CHAPTER 6: A NEW CHAMPION ENTERS THE SCENE

Kassadin narrowed his yellow eyes at Vel'Koz.

"You were called here by Malzahar, weren't you?"

"Only Malzahar and I know the truth of the world. Through careful studying, we both came to the conclusion that Runeterra lacked a ruling power. Of which will be us, the Void. There's nothing you can do, Voidwalker. We are already in motion."

Kassadin's Nether Blade glowed malevolently purple. He glared. "What do you mean, 'in motion?'"

"It means I've said too much, Kassadin," the eyeball replied, "Now are you going to let me into the League or not? My patience is tiring."

"I'm sending you back to the Void, where you belong."

Vel'Koz's tentacles glowed purple as well, crackling with Void energy.

"I suppose you are looking for a fight. If it is a fight you want, then it shall be a fight you get."

()()()

"Hm..?" a half-asleep Riven murmured. She opened her eyes and looked at the dim blue clock that hung on the wall. Thursday, 4:15pm. She suddenly sat up on the leather couch she was sleeping on.

"You're finally awake, huh?" a voice asked from the kitchen.

"Where am I..? What am I..?"

Suddenly, Riven realized where she was and jolted wide awake. Yasuo walked into the living room drinking a cup of hot chocolate and holding another in the other hand. He offered it to her with a simple "here". She murmured a "thanks" before taking the hot chocolate from his hand. As she sipped the hot chocolate, she realized what an inconvenience she had caused for him. Ignoring the fact that she killed this guy's teacher, she burst into his apartment, then slept over at his place, and now she was drinking his hot chocolate. The two of them just awkwardly sipped their hot chocolate, not sure how to start a conversation after the one they had just a few hours ago. Riven looked at the time again and was puzzled. Why had none of them been chosen to a match for over six hours?

"Hey Yasuo," she started, as she put the hot chocolate on a nearby desk, "why haven't we been summoned to the Rift yet? It's been almost the entire day, and the Rift shuts down at six."

"Yeah, apparently something happening outside the Institute right now, and they had to shut down all League operations for today. They say we would be safest in our rooms, as they're currently sorting out the issue."

Riven's eyes grew wide and her hands clasped across her mouth. Then she remembered what an inconvenience she was being.

"Oh, wow. Alright, thanks Yasuo. I really appreciate your forgiveness." She gave a little bow, grinned, and walked towards the door. Yasuo followed behind her and unlocked the door. He smiled back.

"If you need to talk to me, don't be stranger."

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

She threw her arms around Yasuo's neck and gave him a friendly hug. As he closed the door behind her, he got ready for another confrontation with Draven. It was inevitable.

()()()()()()()()()

Outside the wrecked exterior of the Institute, Vel'Koz's eye glowed with energy. The air around him crackled with smoke. Kassadin stood opposing Vel'Koz. His Nether Blade was dim. _This Void scum is stronger than the last time I saw him,_ he thought to himself.

"Is that it for your power, Kassadin? What a shame. I thought the Void power I gave you would be so much stronger."

 _That's right_ , Kassadin thought, _he was the one that gave me this power when I fell into the Void._ He suddenly recalled when he fell into the Void to save his daughter. When he was nearly overcome with the Void's monstrosities, some mysterious tentacles wrapped around his arm, before infusing him with pure Void energy. This monster before him saved his life from the Void, while he couldn't save his own daughter. The eyeball cackled.

"I hope you're not getting sentimental, Kassadin."

Kassadin's eyes flickered downwards, and a blue bar popped up. He was out of mana. He flicked his eyes towards Vel'Koz, and a blue bar popped up on top of its head, er, eye. Half mana.

 _How did he reach such efficiency with his spells?_ Kassadin stared. He had no choice but to surrender the fight. The least liked option, but it would be the only one to save his life. He wouldn't put it past Vel'Koz to want his own power back.

"Vel'Koz," he began, "There is no longer a reason for me to fight you."

"You have surrendered?" the eyeball asked.

"Yes. I have." He said, through clenched teeth.

What were left of the Institute doors swung open, and a voice announced, "Vel'Koz, welcome to the League of Legends."

()()()()()()()()()

Yasuo walked to the cafeteria for dinner before going to find Draven. As he entered the atrium, a large eyeball floated out, muttering something about how the food did not meet his research standards. Yasuo stared at the being for a couple of seconds in confusion before walking into the large room. _Must be a new champion,_ he thought, _what a weird look._ He went to the buffet table and loaded a plate with salad and grilled chicken before finding an empty spot. He was affixed to his food, eating voraciously and thinking about how he can approach Draven. And most importantly, how he'll win the next fight.

After ruthlessly finishing off the grilled chicken, Yasuo let out a quiet burp of contentment, scooped up his plates, and went off to get ready for his next encounter.

He found Draven in the Institute hot tub with his harem. Surprise, surprise.

"You," the moustached man said as he narrowed his eyes.

Yasuo looked down at him then said, "back of the Institute. Five minutes."

He noticed some of the ladies pointing at him, whispering, and exchanging some quite rude words. Yasuo couldn't resist the temptation. He whipped out his blade in less than a second and pointed it at the ladies. The metal gleamed ominously in the dim light. "If you're not out there in five minutes, I'll kill these ones first."

The ladies stared back at him for a couple of seconds before screaming and splashing and getting the heck out of the water and running off half naked. Satisfied, Yasuo sheathed his sword, took a look at Draven, and went out to the back of the Institute to wait.

Leaning against his tree, he brought out his flute again and began playing his melody. He looked at the large tower clock that shone brightly.

It took Draven exactly 4 minutes and 56 seconds to get to the back of the Institute.

His dual axes were spinning around in his hands already as he walked towards Yasuo. Yasuo put his bamboo flute away and unsheathed his sword.

"You're gonna pay for ruining Draaaven's night out," the executioner threatened.

"Shut up, virgin." was the simple reply that came from Yasuo.

Draven's face contorted into an expression of repulsion.

"Why the sudden haste for battle, skinny boy?" taunted Draven.

Yasuo remained silent. Draven's expression turned to one of knowing.

"Aaah, I see, eh? It's cuz I told your lady the truth, huh? Well, lemme tell ya what," Draven said as he got closer, "you ain't gonna do crap to me, and once I finish you off, I think I'll have a little "fun-time" with her."

Yasuo's knuckles whitened as he gripped his sword.

"If he feels like it," Draven continued, "Draaaven's gonna be getting down and dirty with that cheeky little bit-"

A white flash of steel, and a red line was drawn across Draven's cheek. The red hot anger inside Yasuo flared. A cold breeze blew around the two.

"On three?" Draven asked.

"On three." Yasuo confirmed.

"1."

"2."

The "3" never came, as an axe flew straight at Yasuo's head. "Choryon!" He yelled in Ancient Ionian as a quick wind wall appeared and blocked it off. Yasuo grabbed his sword, and through the wind wall, thrust it out at Draven. Draven raised his axe, meeting Yasuo's blade midair with a powerful _clang_. Yasuo's sword, empowered by the wind, emitted a blast of wind, knocking Draven onto his back. A thin line of blood trickled out from the corner of Draven's mouth. Screaming in rage, he grabbed both his axes and slammed them, both still spinning, into the ground. As the blades of the axes spun towards Yasuo, Draven took the time to regain his bearings and combat sense. Yasuo, not having his wind wall available, jumped up into the air, before seeing Draven hide a sinister grin. _Oh, no_ , Yasuo thought,before the executioner leapt into the air and slammed Yasuo down onto the ground, pinning his arms on the ground.

"You know," Draven said ominously, "my axes always come back to me."

Yasuo didn't understand what he meant. Then he heard the quiet whirring of the axes in the distance becoming louder and louder.

 _Crap,_ Yasuo thought, as the whirring got ever louder and ever closer to him.

"Your little princess ain't here to save ya this time, Ionian scum."

Rage triggered in Yasuo. He will _not_ lose to a Noxian a second time. He refused to. Using his sudden newfound strength, he used his free hand to grab onto Draven's wrist and squeezed. Upon hearing the cracking of his bones, Draven yelled out in pain and instinctively pulled his hand back. That was a mistake. Yasuo grabbed his collar and threw him like a sock puppet to the side, driving his sword deep into Draven's stomach while he was at it. He leapt off the ground, and the axes passed by where his heck was just a fraction of a second ago. Draven was slowly standing up, holding onto the trunk of a tree to stand up properly. Panting heavily, blood dribbled from his forehead and the corners of his mouth, and he had various cuts across his person already. His eyes were half closed as he put his hands up in front of him, signalling surrender. And suddenly, Yasuo was brought back to the Noxian invasion, where he ruthlessly finished off the surrendering Noxians. They deserved no pity. No pity at all. Not even now, as the Noxian scum stood there, an easy target for his whirlwind.

"Hasagi!"

A huge whirlwind flew towards Draven, hitting him hard into the air and even partially uprooting the tree. However, Yasuo didn't follow up, as Draven fell hard back to the ground. He cleaned the blood off his sword and sheathed it. His eyes flickered to Draven's motionless body and a red health bar popped up. _Beaten to within an inch of his life, huh,_ Yasuo thought. He knelt down and looked into Draven's defeated eyes. Draven struggled to sit up, and was surprised when Yasuo gave him a hand and helped him up against the tree. He couldn't see Yasuo's eyes, but he knew it could hold nothing pleasant. Yasuo's voice was as cold as the steel his sword was made of.

"Looks like you _did_ have to cheat for that extra second, and you _still_ couldn't win."


	7. Chasing The Wind: CH7

CHAPTER 7: ESTABLISHMENT OF FORCES

Where the bunny was now stood a small hunk of ash.

"Magnificent…" a deep voice muttered, "such a simple being, yet with such intricate compositions."

Vel'Koz looked around him. He was floating in the Institute garden, just remarking his surroundings. A normal passerby would have been shocked to see such a malicious looking eyeball take in nature's surroundings. In the shadows, a lizard scurried. Zap. A steaming pile of ashes. Without turning around, Vel'Koz spoke.

"You are late, Prophet."

"Actually, it's you that's early, Vel," a sinister voice sneered behind him. Malzahar floated towards Vel'Koz, and Vel'Koz turned around to meet his gaze. They were supposed to meet at noon. It was 11:59.

"Do not call me 'Vel', Malzahar. What is it that you wanted to discuss so urgently about?"

"The weather, you numbskull," the Prophet replied sarcastically, "we're meeting here to discuss more about our…" Malzahar paused to think of a fitting word, "our 'plan'."

Vel'Koz looked at Malzahar intensely.

"Speak."

"You see, we've achieved all there is to put our plan into motion. We've already played out on Kassadin's emotions. We've played on everyone's fear. Have you not seen them? After you leveled the front of the Institute, all the other champions were scared to see you. Not only that, we've gathered the Void's strongest fighters, and I'm sure there are more than enough people that want to help our cause, even if they do not hail from the Void."

"Such as?"

Draven walked out of the shadows with a limp, his right arm in a cast. His voice was full of malice.

"Such as me."

)))

Yasuo walked towards Kassadin's apartment holding a small pot of stew, then knocked on the door. After a brief wait, the door creaked open, and Kassadin's yellow eyes shone through the crack. He sighed with happy relief.

"Come in Yasuo," he said as he fully opened his door.

Yasuo set the pot of steaming stew carefully on the kitchen counter.

"I came here because I heard you got your ass handed to you in a fight," Yasuo grinned.

"There's always another chance at battle, right, Yasuo?" He was obviously referring to his fight with Draven.

"Yessir there is indeed. There is indeed…"

Kassadin floated over to the cupboard and brought out two bowls and a ladle. He set them on the table and proceeded to fill them up with the stew. _Beef, carrots, and Ionian wild rice,_ Kassadin smelled, _delicious._ They both sat down at the table and began eating lunch. Seeing Kassadin eat was a funny spectacle. His mask never came off, but the food still disappeared. Every time he brought his spoon close to his mask, a tinge of purple could be seen around the food, before it evaporated into his mouth behind the mask.

"Kassadin, I really came here for a serious talk. What happened outside the Institute?"

Kassadin paused with his spoon midair.

"It was nothing much. Just an old familiar who wanted to say hi."

"It was Vel'Koz, wasn't it?"

The food that began evaporating suddenly spilled out of his spoon, and Kassadin began coughing. After his coughing fit, he spoke.

"Yes. Indeed it was."

"Why is he here? I mean, I know the League is always searching for stronger fighters, but I don't think there were anymore Void champions to come after Kha'Zix."

There was an unsettling silence.

"Since you are a close friend of mine, I think I can entrust you with what I suspect is happening."

Yasuo nodded intently.

"Vel'Koz isn't here without a mission. He's been called here by Malzahar. I suspect that Malzahar has put his plan into action. He's had the dream of taking over Runeterra for as long as we could remember, and I assume he's going to use Vel'Koz's knowledge and power to realize that twisted dream of his."

They sat there in complete silence. Yasuo imagined a world run by the Void. Every person, regardless of their status as a champion or not, enslaved by a huge floating eyeball and a sadistic psychopath. The Void being the ruling power of Runeterra. Justice would disappear under their twisted oppression.

And worst of all, everything would be purple.

Kassadin spoke up again, his voice shaky and full of anguish.

"I don't think I can defeat him in battle. He's... he's too strong."

"I agree. You can't do it by yourself," Yasuo replied.

Kassadin's head shot up and stared at Yasuo.

"But with others, I'm sure that _we_ can do it. Together. If what you suspect is indeed true, I'm sure a lot of us will have no problem helping you fight against the Void. To be honest, your current roster of a couple of Runeterran militia really isn't enough, and you know it. I'm sure you need champions to help."

Kassadin spoke up shortly, "Yes, I do think so. Thank you."

"But there _is_ one thing you're going to have to do alone…" Yasuo's tone was grave.

"And what would that be?" Kassadin ventured.

An uneasy silence followed.

"You're going to have to do the dishes by yourself."

Kassadin stared at Yasuo, before the two of them burst out laughing.

)))

Draven walked slowly but deliberately up to Riven, who was hanging out in the Institute Lounge. Without turning, she spoke to him.

"Leave me alone, Draven."

"Riven. Yasuo spoke to me about you," he started.

Upon hearing the man's name, she twitched a bit and turned around to face Draven.

"What?" was the simple question posed by the young lady.

"Look, after he beat me in our fight last time, he told me a couple of things."

"Such as what?"

"He almost killed me, Riven. He was going to let me just bleed out on the ground, were it not for the paramedics group that arrived just in time."

"Yeah, and last time, if I didn't save him, you would've just beheaded him right there on the spot."

"I know. But I'm serious now, Riven. I signalled surrender, I told him he won. I told him to spare me, he was obviously the stronger warrior. But he still kept up. You should've seen it. His eyes, they were filled with blind rage. After he landed his Last Breath technique on me, he came up to me and told me, and I quote, 'After you're done bleeding out on the ground, I'm going to kill Riven, too."

Riven's eyes opened wide, before narrowing them at Draven.

"And on what grounds should I believe you?"

"He almost killed me, Riven. I had to spend a week in Intensive Care, and that was _with_ the Institute's advanced healing. How do you _not_ trust me? We fought in the same squadron, we invaded Ionia together. We fought and we won together. Countless battles. We've fought in the barracks since we were kids, Riven. And you trust a man you met a couple weeks ago more than me?"

Riven sighed, before seeing _some_ logic in his argument. Even though he was quite the lewd bastard, he was still her comrade.

"Fine. Speak. I'll see if I believe you _after_ you talk."

Draven sighed with relief, and began speaking again.

"He told me that you weren't worth forgiving, and that he would kill you. He said when he found out you were his elder's killer, he resolved to himself to kill you no matter what. He told me he thought of you as a weak idiot, and he told me he regretted not killing you earlier. Not only that, he says he wants you to feel his pain. His voice was trembling when he told me all this, Riven. You visited him, didn't you? Begging for forgiveness?"

"How did you know that?"

"You think I'm going to let my friend just run into some murderer's home without making sure she's okay? Now, hush, I need to finish telling you. When you visited him, don't you think he was a bit _too_ nice to someone who wrecked his life? He's using your emotions to get what he wants. He hasn't forgiven you at all Riven. He _won't_ forgive you. You think I don't know? We're both men, we understand what underlies our words when we speak."

Riven thought about it. She shook her head. That was the real Yasuo, huh? Now that she knew all of this, she shook her head. How disgusting. So Yasuo never really forgave her, and now her life was in danger. Yasuo was going to kill her.

Inwardly, Draven smiled sinisterly. Latched safely on his back, his spinning axes glowed faintly purple.


	8. Chasing The Wind: CH8

CHAPTER 8: VOID'S CALLING

Draven looked at the trembling woman before him. It was time to put the cherry on top.

"Riven..." he began.

The young swordswoman's head snapped up to meet Draven's gaze.

"There is something I must show you. Will you come with me?"

Her eyes narrowed, and not because of Draven.

"Of course." was her quick reply.

Draven sneered inside. It was going all according to plan.

Yasuo was sitting in the cafeteria, enjoying his afternoon break away from his matches, when he felt a large hand clasp his right shoulder. He looked up into the eyes of Darius. _Crud,_ Yasuo thought, _he's probably mad that I beat up his brother real bad._ Yasuo stood up before talking."If you're here because I beat Draven in a fight, don't expec-"

Yasuo was cut off by Darius raising his hand for him to stop.

"I couldn't care less about whether he won or lost," the big man spoke, "he charged into battle recklessly, so he can deal with the consequences. But the real reason I'm here is because I need to ask you where he is."

Yasuo was taken aback at this man's cold disposition towards Draven.

"I don't know. The last time I saw him was when he was recovering in the hospital a couple days ago. Why?"

"The man just disappeared, and quite mysteriously, too. Anyways, thanks for the information."

With that, the armored Noxian turned and walked out of the cafeteria.

 _Knowing Draven_ , _his absence can't be a good thing._

Yasuo waited until Darius was out of sight before going off by himself to also search for the missing executioner.

"Wait, what the hell is this?" Riven demanded.

Draven had led her into one of the Institute's basements, into one of the little used summoner cloak cellar. This room was first created to research how to create stronger summoner cloaks using Nexus crystals, which theoretically allowed better mind integration within matches and lower latency between champion movements and summoner commands on the Rift. However, the research, led by Viktor, proved to be much too dangerous to control properly and a test-went-awry caused some… casualties. Even though it has been countless years since the room was last opened, the room held a strong magical atmosphere.

"This is her, I may assume?" A deep voice echoed.

"Seriously, tell me what's going on here!" Riven yelled.

She turned around to look Malzahar straight in the eyes. Multiple visions of torture and death emitted from Malzahar's glowing white eyes, buckling her knees and locking her down.

"Stop, Malzahar," the voice boomed again, "your Nether Grasp is too powerful to use as just a suppression tool."

Draven walked up to the trembling Riven, and helped her up.

"You might wanna know why we brought you her e," the executioner began.

"Yathink?" The struggling fighter replied.

"Well, you see… I've decided to partner up with the Void to destroy Yasuo and all those who stand with him."

Riven suddenly realized everything that happened: Draven had led her on with lies, and she was now trapped with some psychos in the Institute basement.

"You… You joined the Void just to get revenge on a lost fight?" She stammered, taken aback by Draven's actions.

"No Riven. After some thinking, Vel'Koz and I agree upon the fact that the mortal world is filled with fools. These mortal creatures called humans destroy whatever they want, kill whatever they feel like, and steal what they desire. And you know what happens after all that? The same fools who pollute the Earth ask for repentance, and whether or not it was granted to them, go to bed happy, assuming they were forgiven. We are the ones that will right the wrong. We will be rid of all of those scum. And you will join us."

After Draven's monologue, Riven looked up, dead into Vel'Koz's eye.

"There is no way in hell I'm going to just voluntarily join up with you idiots. Now excuse me, but I'm going bac-"

Again, she saw Malzahar's projections of death and pain, and again, fell to her knees, trembling at the sights. Sights of Yasuo on the ground, blood pooling around him, and the life seeping out of his eyes. Next to him lay Kassadin, Nether Blade broken into shards, his normally bright yellow eyes were now a dim grey. The rest of the champions were slaughtered, piled up like a dumpsite, limbs and blood everywhere, their accusing eyes staring at her, screaming silently.

Malzahar's sneery voice spoke up again: "If you leave, you'll know what will happen."

Riven sat on the ground, huddled in the fetal position, her eyes in a trance, shivering. She softly spoke up.

"I'll join you, but please don't hurt my friends."

Draven took a look at her and said, "ta-ta. We got a winner here."

From outside the room, a bright purple glow seeped out the bottom of the door, growing stronger. Suddenly a quick purple explosion was followed by a quick scream. Then silence.


End file.
